* An Albuquerque DWI attorney has been arrested for his second DWI this year. His first DWI was dismissed; maybe this is just an advertising ploy... [KRQE Albuquerque]
* Joe Arpaio's defamation lawsuit against several media outlets has been dismissed. [The Hill]
* Employment in the legal sector is flat even though the U.S. economy continues to add jobs. Still thinking about going to law school? [American Lawyer]
* A PA attorney has been disbarred for continuing to practice law even though his license was suspended 17 years ago. [Patriot News]
* Reed Smith has become the first American law firm to be allowed to raise outside investment and appoint non-lawyer partners in the UK. [Times]
* An Alaskan moose hunter spent $1.5M and 12 years in fighting for the right to hunt moose all the way to the Supreme Court. This guy is an American hero. [Washington Post]
* 3M is asking Biglaw to care for attorney mental health in its new procurement process. The fourth "M" is for "Mindfulness." [Corporate Counsel]
* In today's installment of "intellectual property law is broken," publishers are suing over audiobooks that offer captions. [New York Law Journal]
* A guy who legally changed his name to Atticus Finch when he was 8 is now in law school. If you think you hated Go Set A Watchman... [Texas Lawyer]
* Second Circuit doing all sorts of fact-finding because adhering to the record and precedent is out of fashion apparently. [Law360]
* Anti-gay blogger Judge John Bush calling out Kim Davis for "antihomosexual bias" is peak 2019. [National Law Journal]
* Famous football players who became lawyers. [Law.com]
* Convict seeks sheriff job. [HuffPo]
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* That was quick! House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said she'd wait until the Mueller report came out to talk about the possibility of impeaching the president, but one of her colleagues is planning to re-introduce articles of impeachment against Trump on the first day of the new Congress. [CNN]
* The Senate Judiciary Committee has set a confirmation hearing for William Barr, the nominee for U.S. attorney general, on January 15, and he'll get the "same fair and thorough vetting process" as all of his predecessors. Yeaahh... [National Law Journal]
* The DOJ won't ask SCOTUS to block the appointment of a special prosecutor in former Sheriff Joe Arpaio’s quest to delete his pre-pardon guilty verdict on contempt charges -- but that doesn't mean his own lawyers will back down. [POLITICO]
* Connie Brenton, founder of the three-year-old Corporate Legal Operations Consortium (CLOC), is resigning from the organization, citing the board’s desire to move in “different directions.” Hope this doesn’t put a damper on CLOC’s upcoming conference! [Corporate Counsel]
* Guess which boutique firm is "building an army of killers," and plans to "take over Boston in short order"? That would be Pierce Bainbridge, the self-proclaimed "fastest-growing law firm" in America. That's a bit scary, but congrats! [American Lawyer]
* Jane Shay Wald, 72, is a partner emeritus at Irell & Manella who leads the firm’s trademark practice, and unlike our columnist Jill Switzer, she refuses to be referred to as a dinosaur: "I am senior, hear me roar. I’m no f***ing dinosaur." [AGEIST]
* Valparaiso celebrated earlier in the week after reaching an agreement to send its beleaguered law school to Middle Tennessee. Tennessee's education officials have killed the idea of hosting another middling law school with extreme prejudice. [Chicago Tribune]
* Ninth Circuit judge displays deliberate ignorance in what appears to be a looming decision to keep college athletes out of court. [Courthouse News Service]
* Whenever you doubt the stupidity of humanity, remember people accused of global financial fraud tend to email each other explicit descriptions of what they're doing. [Law360]
* Boies Schiller will act as special prosecutor in the Joe Arpaio appeal in what should be the easiest appellate layup ever. [The Recorder]
* Republican judge dismisses lawsuit against Republican politician. [Huffington Post]
* Jeff Sessions tells the Heritage Foundation that he doesn't approve of this idea that courts might consider themselves some kind of "check" or "balance" on the executive branch. [National Law Journal]
* Ralph Baxter thinks Biglaw needs to change its business model to succeed. [American Lawyer]
* Under cover of a natural disaster, President Donald Trump decided to pardon former Arizona sheriff Joe Arpaio, who was found guilty of criminal contempt after ignoring a federal judge's order. Trump, who has shown contempt for judges since the start of his campaign, now seems to be using his "weaponized pardon power" to circumvent the powers of the judiciary. [New York Times]
* Speaking of Hurricane Harvey, we know that many lawyers, law students, and law professors in Texas have been and continue to be affected by the devastating after effects of the storm. How has your firm or your law school handled the destruction and historic flooding? Please get in touch with us via email, text message (646-820-8477), or tweet (@atlblog) to let us know. [Above the Law]
* Getting back to Joe Arpaio's pardon, lawyers, former government officials, and current lawmakers of all stripes have spoken out against the president's unconventional action. Perhaps our favorite comment of all came from Professor Orin Kerr of USC Gould School of Law: "Trump shows his love of the Constitution by pardoning a man who refused to stop violating it." [Law.com]
* Special Counsel Robert Mueller is reportedly investigating whether former national security adviser Michael Flynn played any kind of a role in obtaining Hillary Clinton's emails from Russian hackers. If he did have something to do with it, Flynn may be more concerned about Clinton's emails right now than the average Trump voter was in the lead-up to the election. [Wall Street Journal]
* Thanks to President Trump, Irell & Manella now stands to lose one of its top rainmakers. In a Friday announcement, patent litigator Andrei Iancu, a partner at the firm, was nominated to become the next Director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and Under Secretary of Commerce for Intellectual Property. We wonder how long it'll take for him to be confirmed.[Am Law Daily]
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* So... who is in charge of Homeland Security now? Asking for all the immigration lawyers who need to fill out the "named defendants" section of their filings. [Politico]
* The Gawker effect is real. Maybe Buzzfeed will save us? [Washington Post]
* Florida law will allow parents to object to the content of their children's textbooks. I would be in favor of this law if it also required Florida residents to READ children's textbooks before they object. [Law Street News]
* We're now at the point where people are reporting on seating arrangements at cabinet meetings. Trump makes us pathetic. [Newsmax]
* Here's some stuff about trash human, Pete Rose. [The Score]
* Here's some stuff about trash human, Joe Arpaio. [AZ Central]
* After all the legal trouble he's gotten into, has Maricopa County's Sheriff Joe Arpaio finally reached the end of his reign? [Salon]
* If we all got Election Day off, would more people vote? [Slate]
* Are copyright law and cease and desist letters being used in the service of some questionable ends? [Jezebel]
* Be messy -- it could be the key to your success. [Law and More]
* No, the GOP cannot send extra poll watchers to Philadelphia rules Eastern District of Pennsylvania Judge Gerald Pappert. [Huffington Post]
* American Apparel is ignoring its own bankruptcy reorganization plan. [The Fashion Law]
* Epic interview by a very drunk Theo Epstein (San Diego Law alum) after being the GM that finally brought a World Series championship to the Cubs after the 108 year drought. [Twitter]
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* The unnamed alleged Bridgegate co-conspirators will stay unnamed a little longer -- District Judge Susan Wigenton has postponed the release of the names after Jenny R. Kramer of Chadbourne & Parke filed a motion alleging her client would be caused "immediate and irreparable reputational harm" if his name were released. [Gawker]
* Above the Law all-star Magistrate Judge Paul Grewal is leaving the judiciary for Facebook. [Recode]
* The story of how faulty jury instructions led to a second chance for almost 150 Maryland prisoners sentenced to life in prison. [Highline]
* District Judge Murray Snow found that Maricopa County, Arizona Sheriff Joe Arpaio, along with three aides, violated a federal order designed to stop racial profiling. [Talking Points Memo]
* Manufacturing jobs are important, but the real key is union benefits for American workers. [Lawyers, Guns and Money]
* Catholic church be damned, Italy has legalized same-sex unions. [Slate]
